Are multinational corporations solely economic institutions? Or are
they essentially political institutions that also conduct business?

2.

What are the effects of multinational corporations on the United
States?

3.

What effects do multinational corporations have on countries other
than the United States?

4.

Can multinational corporations be controlled by any other political
institution?

Multinational corporations operate in a number of countries and have the
ability to shift personnel and resources from one country to another,
effectively removing themselves from domination by any national
government.

Conservatives believe that multinational corporations are economic
organizations that play a positive role in the development of poor
countries and in the economic expansion of rich countries. Because
multinationals are effectively organized, well-financed, and well-run,
they are eminently suited to coordinate world economic development.
Conservatives hold that multinational corporations are, at present, the
only organizations that have a world perspective and the capacity to
engage in effective economic development. Such corporations must be
left alone to conduct their own business. National governments should
not be permitted to hamper their activities. Both developed and
developing countries should recognize and support the role that multinational corporations play in agrarian, industrial, and technological
development.

Liberals maintain that multinational corporations, left to their own
devices, will abuse the power their financial and economic resources
give them. They believe that the economies of poor countries are stunted
by the monopolization of economic enterprise by multinationals. The
economies of the Western world can also be hurt if there is no control
over them. An example of this type of activity is the arrangement that
international oil companies made with producing nations, in 1973-74, to
increase sharply the price of oil.1

Multinationals are accepted by liberals as an economic fixture in the
world. They hold that if permitted, multinational corporations will exert
political power over national governments. For liberals, government legislation is the answer to the abuses of power that multinationals engage
in it given the chance. Countervailing forces exist which can limit the
undue influence exerted by multinational corporations. These are labor
unions, small business, and government. The first two are discounted as
viable forces because they have little means of exerting authority across
national boundaries. The ability to transcend national boundaries is the

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